Cartons

ABSTRACT

A carton comprising a single blank of sheet material, folded and joined into a tube comprising a front, bottom, rear and top of the carton, said blank including further parts for closing the ends of the carton, the joint in the circumference of the tube being formed by a flange connected to the lid, sandwiched between inner and outer portions of the material folded down the inner face of the front and up again, the front having flaps extending therefrom at the ends, and the inner of the said portions having further flaps extending therefrom and glued to the respective flaps of the front.

United States Patent Inventor William Thompson Horry East Keswick,England Appl No. 793,410 Filed Jan. 23, 1969 Patented Jan. 12, 1971Assignee Johi. Waddington Limited Yorkshire, England a British companyPriority Feb. 8, 1968, Aug. 22, 1968 Great Britain Nos. 6292/68 and40238/68 CARTONS 12 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 229/33, 229/38, 93/36 Int. Cl 865d 5/02, 865d 5/22 Field ofSearch 229/33, 44,

Primary Examiner-David M. Bockenek Attorney-Larson, Taylor and HindsABSTRACT: A carton comprising a single blank of sheet material, foldedand joined into a tube comprising a front, bottom, rear and top of thecarton, said blank including further parts for closing the ends of thecarton, the joint in the circumference of the tube being formed by aflange connected to the lid, sandwiched between inner and outer portionsof the material folded down the inner face of the front and up again,the front having flaps extending therefrom at the ends, and the inner ofthe said portions having further flaps extending therefrom and glued tothe respective flaps of the front.

PATENTED JAN 1 2197! SHEET 1 BF 4 PATENT-ED JAN 1 2mm Y 3554.432

SHEET 2 BF 4 PATENTEU MM 2197! SHEET 3 OF 4 CARTONS This inventionrelates to cartons made of a single blank of sheet material, by foldingand joining the blank into an open ended tube comprising a front,bottom, rear, and top of the carton, and thereafter closing ends of thecarton by further parts of the blank. Such cartons are known asskillets. In use, the making of the blank and the folding and joininginto a tube may be carried out by a carton manufacturer. Then the tube,in flattened condition, is supplied to a user, who opens the tube intosubstantially rectangular section, loads the contents through one end ofthe tube, and closes the ends, thus forming a completed filled carton.

This invention is concerned with a way of making the joint in thecircumference of the tube so as to enable the cartons to be opened fromthe top. This is of particular value in the packing of chocolates, butthere are many other uses.

According to this invention, the joint in the circumference of the tubeis formed by an edge part of the blank gripped between two other partsof the blank, so that the carton can be opened by withdrawing the saidedge part from between the two other parts and lifting the entire top aspart of a lid hinged to the remainder of the carton.

Thus cartons according to this invention have at the same time theadvantages that they can be loaded by an end-loading machine, and thatthe consumer has access from the top.

The tenn top is used in relation to contents which require to be keptright way up when the carton is open. If this need does not exist, thenthe top need not necessarily be uppermost, although the greatestadvantage of the invention arises where the top and bottom are thetwolargest panels of the carton.

Examples of cartons according to the invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first carton;

FIG. 2 is a plan of a blank for this first carton;

FIG. 3 shows this blank, folded into a tube;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section of the tube, looking in the directionindicated at IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of a blank which is a modification of theblank shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross section of a completed carton using theblank of FIG. 5, the section being taken on the line indicated at VI-VI,and the FIG. resembling FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a plan of a blank for a further carton;

FIG. 8 is a front view of on a larger scale of a carton formed from theblank shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of another blank; and

FIG. 10 is a cross section on a larger scale of a carton formed from theblank shown in FIG. 9, the line of section being indicated at X-X.

All the cartons shown are intended for half a pound of assortedchocolates, and are of the size and shape usually used for thispurposes, namely 5% inches by 4 inches by l'kinches. They are made offolding box board. The thickness of the board is exaggerated somewhat inthe sectional FIGS. of the drawings.

The first carton, shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, is assembled by first foldingthe blank shown in FIG. 2 into the open ended tube shown in FIGS. 3 and4. The tube is constituted by the front 2, bottom 4 and rear 6 and top 8of the carton. The top has a downward flange 10 along its front edge,which is trapped in a slot formed by portions 12 and 14 which extendfrom the front 2. In FIG. 2, broken lines 16 indicate scoring tofacilitate folding of the board, the band 18 indicates a line of glueapplied to the visible face, and the band 20 indicates a line of glueapplied to the reverse face, below midheight. As shown in FIG. 4, theportions 12 and 14 are folded in a zigzag fashion against the inner faceof the front 2, and are retained in place by adhe sion of the lines ofglue I8, 20 with the surfaces with which they are brought into contact.

The tube is initially formed in a flattened condition as indicated bythe broken lines 22 in FIG. 4. The first steps (see FIG. 2) are to foldthe portions 12 and 14 up and over on top of the front 2 and bottom 4,about the line 24, thus causing the line of glue 18 on the portion 12 toadhere to the front 2; and then to fold the lid 8 up and over about theline 26, so that the flange 10 lies on top of the portion 14. Then thefront 2 is folded over about the line 28, while at the same time foldingtakes place on the line 29, thus causing the line of glue 20 on theportion 14 to adhere to the portion 12. As this happens, the portion 14slides a short distance beneath the flange l0, because the portions 12and 14 are not quite as deep as the front 2. Y

The flattened tubes are made by a canon manufacturer. Existing machinerycan be readily modified to perform the necessary operations. Then thetubes are supplied in flattened condition to a user, in this case aconfectionery maker, who opens the tube into rectangular section, asshown in FIG. 3, and in solid lines in FIG. 4.

The contents are loaded through one end of the tube, using existingequipment, and then the ends of the tube are closed (or one end may beclosed before loading and one after). At each end there is a main flap30 attached to the bottom 4, and small flaps 32, 34 attached to thefront 2 and rear 6. Patches or lines of glue are applied to the outerfaces of the small flaps 32, 34 which are then folded towards oneanother and covered by the main flap 30, to which the glue adheres.

The main flaps 30, and the portion 14, carry decorative flanges 36, 38.The front 2 and the portion 12 have a small cutout 40 to aid a consumerin releasing the lid, constituted by the top 8 and the flange 10, bypulling the flange I0 upwards out of its sandwiched position in which itis frictionally gripped between the portions 12 and 14. The lid hingesabout the line 26. In FIG. 4 the symbol of a broken circle is used toindicate the hinge.

The lid can be reclosed by pushing the flange 10 down again into theslot between the portions 12 and 14.

The carton shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from that shown in FIGS. 1 to4 in that the portions 12 and 14 are less deep than the front 2. Thisleads to an economy in material. Because of this reduction of depth, theportions 12 and I4 cannot be glued directly together. Instead,additional small flaps extend from the portion 14, and are glued to theinside of the flaps 32. This gluing takes place during the formation ofa tube. When the'ends of the carton are closed, the flaps 32 are foldedinwards, carrying the flaps 90 with them.

In the carton shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the joint in the tube constitutedby the front, bottom and rear of the carton body and the lid of thecarton is formed by interlocking between the flange 10 on the lid andthe front 2 of the carton. Specifically, there is a central downwardextension 92 on the flange 10, with small notches 94 at its two ends,and there is a central downward recess 96in the front 2, again withsmall notches 98 at its two ends. When the blank is formed into a tube,the extension 92 is tucked behind the lower part of the front 2, and thenotches 94 and 98 lock together, as shown in FIG. 8. To release the lidin the completed carton, one end of the flange 10 is pushed obliquelyendways and upwards, as indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 8, so as todisengage the adjacent pair of notches 94, 98, while the top becomes alittle twisted, whereupon the other pair of notches is disengaged bypushing the flange in the opposite endways direction, as indicated bythe arrow B, and then the lid, consisting of the top 8 and flange I0, isopened, hinging about the line 26.

FIGS. 9 and 2 10 show another form of carton in which the flange 10 onthe lid is joined to the front 2 of the carton body by friction grip.Furthermore, this carton is designed for conversion to a display cartonat a point of sale.

The extension of the flange 10 on the lid in this case extends the fulldepth of the carton, and has a small downward tongue 100 which, onassembly, enters a slot 102 at the junction between the front 2 and thebottom 4. In this assembled condition, the central extension 92 liesbehind the front 2, while upper comer portions 104 of the flange I0 liein front of upper corner portions 106 of the front 2, as indicated inFIG. 10.

To enable the .carton to be converted for display purposes, the lid 8has an arcuate slit 108, and a hinge 110 at each end-of the slit. Whenthe carton is opened, the lid is folded in half about the hinge line110, and the tongue 100 is inserted immediately in front of the backwall 6 of the carton, and enters a slot 112 at the junction between theback wall and the bottom 4. This situation is shown in chain lines inFIG. 10. Printed matter, which has appeared on the outside of the top ofthe carton, now appears facing forwards, so as to act as anadvertisement to a possible purchaser. The recess 1 14 in the front 2(FIG. 9) is exposed when the lidis opened, and facilitates removal ofitems from the carton. in all these constructions, the advantage ofaccess from the top is obtained without any need for securing the top bygluing during assembly or tearing of material during opening. Thecartons are neat before opening, while open, and after reclosing. Theyprovide dustproofing. lf pilfer-proofmg is required then an overwrape.g. of cellophane, should be applied.

The kind of joint in the circumference-shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 may beapplied to cartons in which the opening of the lid releases tucked orfolded parts at the ends, enabling those parts to be folded outwards,thus exposing the entire contents, e.g. cakes, biscuits, or ice cream.For such release to occur, the lid needs to have end flanges, secured byflaps to the front flange 10.

I claim:

l. A method of making a carton of a single blank of sheet materialcomprising the steps of foldingthe blank into an open ended tubecomprising a front, bottom, rear, and top of the canon, forming a jointin the circumference of the tube by placing an edge part of the blank ina gripped situation between two other parts of the blank, and thereafterclosing the ends of the carton by further parts of the blank so that thecarton is able to be opened by withdrawing the said edge part frombetween the two other parts and lifting the entire top as part of a lidhinged to the remainder of the carton.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the edge part is a flangeconnected to the lid.

3. A method according to claim 2, in which the edge part is sandwichedbetween the two other parts, which are in face to face relationship.

4. A method according to claim 3, in which the said two other parts areformed by portions of material folded down the inner face of the frontand up again.

5. A method according to claim 4, in which the said two parts are gluedtogether along a line below their midheight.

6. A method according to claim 2, in which the edge part is flat whenunstressed and the said two other parts are flat and in a common planewhen unstressed and the edge part is flexed so as to press against theouter face of a first of the other parts and against the inner face ofthe second of the other parts.

7. A method according to claim 6, in which the said two other parts arean upper and a lower part of the front, and the flange lies outside theupper part and inside the lower part, and has a tongue engaged in a slotat the junction of the front and the bottom.

8. A method according to claim I, in which the parts closing the endsare glued together.

9. A method according to claim 4, including securing the inner of thesaid two parts to the front by gluing together flaps extending from thefront at the ends and respective flaps extending from the inner of thesaid two parts.

10. A method according to claim 2, including interlocking two oppositelyfacing notches in the said edge part with respective notches on the saidtwo other parts.

11. A carton comprising asingle blank of sheet material. folded andjoined into a tube comprising a front, bottom, rear and top of thecarton, said blank including further parts for closing the ends of thecarton, the joint in the circumference of the tube being formed by aflange connected to the lid, sandwiched between inner and outer portionsof the material folded down the inner face of the front and up again,the front having flaps extending therefrom at the ends, and the inner otthe said portions having further flaps extending therefrom and glued tothe respective flaps of the front.

12. A partly-prepared carton comprising a single blank of sheetmaterial, formed into a flattened tube comprising a front, bottom, rearand top for the carton, said blank including further parts for closingthe ends of the carton after erection of the tube, a joint in thecircumference of the flattened tube being constituted by an edge part ofthe blank gripped between two other parts of the blank so that thecarton is able to be opened by withdrawing the said edge part frombetween the two other parts and lifting the entire top as part of a lidhinged to the remainder of the carton.

1. A method of making a carton of a single blank of sheet materialcomprising the steps of folding the blank into an open ended tubecomprising a front, bottom, rear, and top of the carton, forming a jointin the circumference of the tube by placing an edge part of the blank ina gripped situation between two other parts of the blank, and thereafterclosing the ends of the carton by further parts of the blank so that thecarton is able to be opened by withdrawing the said edge part frombetween the two other parts and lifting the entire top as part of a lidhinged to the remainder of the carton.
 2. A method according to claim 1,in which the edge part is a flange connected to the lid.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 2, in which the edge part is sandwiched between thetwo other parts, which are in face to face relationship.
 4. A methodaccording to claim 3, in whiCh the said two other parts are formed byportions of material folded down the inner face of the front and upagain.
 5. A method according to claim 4, in which the said two parts areglued together along a line below their midheight.
 6. A method accordingto claim 2, in which the edge part is flat when unstressed and the saidtwo other parts are flat and in a common plane when unstressed and theedge part is flexed so as to press against the outer face of a first ofthe other parts and against the inner face of the second of the otherparts.
 7. A method according to claim 6, in which the said two otherparts are an upper and a lower part of the front, and the flange liesoutside the upper part and inside the lower part, and has a tongueengaged in a slot at the junction of the front and the bottom.
 8. Amethod according to claim 1, in which the parts closing the ends areglued together.
 9. A method according to claim 4, including securing theinner of the said two parts to the front by gluing together flapsextending from the front at the ends and respective flaps extending fromthe inner of the said two parts.
 10. A method according to claim 2,including interlocking two oppositely facing notches in the said edgepart with respective notches on the said two other parts.
 11. A cartoncomprising a single blank of sheet material, folded and joined into atube comprising a front, bottom, rear and top of the carton, said blankincluding further parts for closing the ends of the carton, the joint inthe circumference of the tube being formed by a flange connected to thelid, sandwiched between inner and outer portions of the material foldeddown the inner face of the front and up again, the front having flapsextending therefrom at the ends, and the inner of the said portionshaving further flaps extending therefrom and glued to the respectiveflaps of the front.
 12. A partly-prepared carton comprising a singleblank of sheet material, formed into a flattened tube comprising afront, bottom, rear and top for the carton, said blank including furtherparts for closing the ends of the carton after erection of the tube, ajoint in the circumference of the flattened tube being constituted by anedge part of the blank gripped between two other parts of the blank sothat the carton is able to be opened by withdrawing the said edge partfrom between the two other parts and lifting the entire top as part of alid hinged to the remainder of the carton.